1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to the in situ testing of a cement annulus located between a well casing and a formation. More particularly, this invention relates to methods and apparatus for an in situ testing of the permeability of a cement annulus located in an earth formation. While not limited thereto, the invention has particular applicability to locate formation zones that are suitable for storage of carbon dioxide in that the carbon dioxide will not be able to escape the formation zone via leakage through a permeable or degraded cement annulus.
2. State of the Art
After drilling an oil well or the like in a geological formation, the annular space surrounding the casing is generally cemented in order to consolidate the well and protect the casing. Cementing also isolates geological layers in the formation so as to prevent fluid exchange between the various formation layers, where such exchange is made possible by the path formed by the drilled hole. The cementing operation is also intended to prevent gas from rising via the annular space and to limit the ingress of water into the production well. Good isolation is thus the primary objective of the majority of cementing operations carried out in oil wells or the like.
Consequently, the selection of a cement formulation is an important factor in cementing operations. The appropriate cement formulation helps to achieve a durable zonal isolation, which in turn ensures a stable and productive well without requiring costly repair. Important parameters in assessing whether a cement formulation will be optimal for a particular well environment are the mechanical properties of the cement after it sets inside the annular region between casing and formation. Compressive and shear strengths constitute two important cement mechanical properties that can be related to the mechanical integrity of a cement sheath. These mechanical properties are related to the linear elastic parameters namely: Young's modulus, shear modulus, and Poisson's ratio. It is well known that these properties can be ascertained from knowledge of the cement density and the velocities of propagation of the compressional and shear acoustic waves inside the cement.
In addition, it is desirable that the bond between the cement annulus and the well-bore casing be a quality bond. Further, it is desirable that the cement pumped in the annulus between the casing and the formation completely fills the annulus.
Much of the prior art associated with in situ cement evaluation involves the use of acoustic measurements to determine bond quality, the location of gaps in the cement annulus, and the mechanical qualities (e.g., strength) of the cement. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,823 to Carmichael et al. utilizes acoustic signals in an attempt to determine the quality of the cement bond to the borehole casing. U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,231 to Zeroug et al. utilizes ultrasonic measurements to determine the mechanical qualities of the cement such as the Young's modulus, the shear modulus, and Poisson's ratio. These non-invasive ultrasonic measurements are useful as opposed to other well known mechanical techniques whereby samples are stressed to a failure stage to determine their compressive or shear strength.
Acoustic tools are used to perform the acoustic measurements, and are lowered inside a well to evaluate the cement integrity through the casing. While interpretation of the acquired data can be difficult, several mathematical models have been developed to simulate the measurements and have been very helpful in anticipating the performance of the evaluation tools as well as in helping interpret the tool data. The tools, however, do not measure fluid dynamic characteristics of the cement.